Accelerating Growth

This year has been tough for everyone, and there are just 12 weeks left before world of business winds up for 2017. There is, however, still time to accelerate your sales efforts and grow your business before the year ends. OnThe Money Show with Bruce Whitfield,we outlined an effective business strategy that helps entrepreneurs fast-track their way to success, before the year ends:

Building your business into an asset of value may include expanding through franchise opportunities. This week, onThe Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, we examined the key elements of what you should consider when assessing franchise opportunities:

In 2008, determined entrepreneur, Karabo Songo, established Olive Communications. I first met Karabo during the 2013 Business Accelerators radio segment, and was happy to discover that, by 2014, he’d followed through on the advice I’ve offered him. This led to him snapping up the deal of a lifetime – a large advertising contract with a corporate insurer. Karabo’s business grew, exponentially, from this, but then the problems began. In this week’sThe Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, we chatted to Karabo, touching on just how bloody the sport of business can get, and the importance of risk management:

Ultimately, the way you look at the world is the way that the world will turn out to be for you. Just as perspective drives experience, how you define your customer will drive the growth of your business. It’s an incredibly difficult, but highly critical, task that many business owners get wrong – they focus on their product and service, rather than solving their customers’ problems. Defining your customer correctly is critical, if you want to build a scalable business. On this week’s The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, we outlined the five things you must get right:

Every business owner should be concerned about whether they will be able to sell their business for a good return when they’re ready to put it up for sale. When the day comes for them to sell, there will be one big question on their minds – will they get the price they want for the business? So how can you ensure that your business is an Asset of Value? Only 5.4% of businesses are successfully sold, while 94.6% just close down when the time comes. No matter how invested you are, eventually you may want to move on to something else. Building your business into an Asset of Value means investing the time to strategise and, importantly, to implement the strategy. In other words, make sure that you work “on” your business and not just “in” it.

Tough economic times mean that unemployment is rife. But, as a growing business owner, you’ve noticed that it seems near impossible to find the right kind of people for your company. Unfortunately, the most skilled and best people often cling to the safety net of their current jobs. As the owner of a developing business, finding the right people, at the right time, to join your company and help it grow towards being an asset of value, is critical.

This week, on The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, we talked about the right way to hire the right people for your business:

Everyone is beginning to feel the pressure of an increase in VAT, petrol levy, and other price increases. Rising costs will start to eat away at your business margins. How can you protect these, as you grow your business? Customers won’t tolerate price increases, suppliers are going to pass on their increases to you, and your team will expect an annual salary increase too. Where to next, business owners? On The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, Pavlo Phitidis outlines where you can cut back:

Simply reading the news headlines can be downright distressing, and government’s lack of adequate response towards corruption can leave us feeling hopeless. As business owners and active citizens, however, it’s vital to learn and build resilience, so we can survive – and thrive beyond – the tough times. Now’s the time to build your business in new ways, but to do that you’ll need to learn to stay resilient, no matter how tough the economic environment. On this week’sThe Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, we laid out a plan for building resilience within yourself, and your business:

Earlier this week, the South African Minister of Finance presented the Medium-term Budget, and the news was somewhat disheartening. Government’s plan to dispose of some of its well-performing shares in Telkom, to offset its recapitalisation of South African Airways and the South African Post Office, is just bad planning. It’s akin to avid entrepreneurs who believe wholeheartedly in their business, but can’t let go of investing time and money into a bad idea, no matter the consequences. Time and money are finite resources, and pouring them into a bad investment can destroy your business. On this week’sThe Money Show, we looked at how you can hit the brakes on a bad investment and start making the right type of investment for business growth: